Dennis "Tink" Bell

Dennis Bell, known as "Tink" lost his life on 26th July 1959 in what Sir Vivian Fuchs described as "terrible year." Alan Sharman had been killed when walking across a snow slope with Russell Thompson three months before in April. As the photographs which were sent in by Russell, shown below, Tink had a great sense of humour and enjoyed acting out jokes much to the enjoyment of everyone on base.

"Jeff Stokes, Ken Gibson, Colin "Dick" Barton and Denis Bell were out on a surveying and geological journey. Ascending a glacier, Bell and Stokes were breaking trail a long way ahead of the second dog team. They had negotiated a crevassed area lower down, and believed that at last they were in the clear. The deep soft snow made the going difficult and the dogs showed signs of tiredness. To encourage them to persevere Bell went ahead but unwisely without his skis. Suddenly he disappeared leaving a hole in the crevasse bridge through which he had fallen,

"Peering into the depths Stokes called repeatedly and was greatly relieved to be answered. Lowering a rope almost a hundred feet, he told Bell to tie himself on. As he could not haul up the weight, he hitched his end of the rope to the team. The dogs took the strain and began to pull. Now it was easy and everything was going well. But Bell had tied the rope through his belt instead of round his body, perhaps because of the angle at which he lay in the crevasse. As he reached the top his body jammed against the lip, the belt broke, and down he went again. This time there was no reply to Stoke's calls. It was a particularly tragic fatality which one really felt should never have happened, and thus doubly grievous." Extracted from Of Ice and Men

Dennis Bell found on glacier 2025

On 19 January 2025 human remains were discovered on the Ecology Glacier by personnel from the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station, Admiralty Bay, King George Island. Their location was recorded by GPS markers . Some of the remains were collected and returned to the Arctowski Station, where it was decided that further investigation was required. Between 9-13 February a multidisciplinary Polish team, including an archaeologist, geomorphologist, anthropologist and glaciologist, undertook a more extensive archaeological survey. As a result, more bone fragments and artefacts were recovered and sent to the Falkland Islands on the BAS Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough where they were handed into the care of His Majesty’s Coroner for British Antarctic Territory, Malcolm Simmons, who accompanied them on the journey from Stanley to London, supported by the Royal Air Force.

The human remains were sent for DNA testing by Denise Syndercombe Court, Professor in Forensic Genetics at King’s College London. In July she confirmed there is a match with samples from Dennis’s brother David and his sister Valerie Kelly. She stated that they are ‘more than one billion times’ more likely to be related than not.

Bell’s brother David, now living in Australia, said: “When my sister Valerie and I were notified that our brother Dennis had been found after 66 years we were shocked and amazed. The British Antarctic Survey and British Antarctic Monument Trust have been a tremendous support and together with the sensitivity of the Polish team in bringing him home have helped us come to terms with the tragic loss of our brilliant brother.”

Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of BAS said: “The confirmation of the remains found on Ecology Glacier as those of Dennis ‘Tink’ Bell is both a poignant and profound moment for all of us at British Antarctic Survey. Dennis was one of the many brave FIDS personnel who contributed to the early science and exploration of Antarctica under extraordinarily harsh conditions. Even though he was lost in 1959, his memory lived on among colleagues and in the legacy of polar research. This discovery brings closure to a decades-long mystery and reminds us of the human stories embedded in the history of Antarctic science.

The BBC News at Ten programme on August 11 2025 covered the discovery of the body in considerable detail. The journalist Georgina Rannard's two-minute item is available here at this link - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1axfyvo00ko43otq1nopw/Dennis-Bell-BBC.m4v?rlkey=b7a4dune5p8lmd9x3wgougylg&st=6d1zi5kn&dl=0

Memorial for Dennis “Tink” Bell, 28 August 2025

A gathering of Dennis ‘Tink’ Bell’s family and friends came together in the Memorial Orchard at BAS on 28 August 2015 to remember him and to pay homage. His remains were discovered in the retreating Ecology Glacier in Admiralty Bay, King George Island in the January of this year, 66 years since he fell to his death on 26 July 1959 by a Polish team operating out of Henryk Arctowski Station. Tink wintered at Base G as a meteorologist in 1958 and 1959 .

The event was organised jointly by the British Antarctic Monument Trust, BAMT, and the British Antarctic Survey, BAS, and was hosted by Tink’s brother David, seated in the photograph, and sister Valerie, on David’s right at BAS. The confirmation by DNA testing of the remains in August coincided with David, his wife Yvonne and their daughters coming from their home in Australia to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary with their family in the UK.

Present from BAS were the Director, Professor Dame Jane Francis, archivist Ieuan Hopkins, and the communications team Julie Jupe and Athena Dinar. BAMT was represented by its chair Rod Rhys Jones, secretary Sandi Rhys Jones OBE, trustee Dick Harbour and ambassador John Killingbeck. BAS Club was represented by John Dudeney OBE. The head of the FCDO Polar Regions Office, Jane Rumble OBE, was also present, along with a representative of the Polish Embassy, Mateusz Malek.

This was a very poignant event. It began with a visit to the BAS archives to view documents, reports and other material from 1958/9 associated with Tink. There was then a lunch hosted by Jane Francis. This was followed by a gathering around the memorial plinth in the memorial orchard to pay tribute to Tink and the 28 others who died in Antarctica in pursuit of science to benefit us all. The event was rounded off by “smoko” in the Icebreaker with apple cake prepared by Julie Jupe with apples gathered from the memorial orchard.

David Bell’s recollections

Some years ago David told BAMT that the circumstances of Dennis’s death had always been inconclusive and that he never had any kind of dedication to his memory.

Recently he told Georgina Rannard of the BBC that “My mother never really got over it. She couldn't handle photographs of him and couldn't talk about him."

He recalls that two men on Dennis's base visited the family, bringing a sheepskin as a gesture.

"But there was no conclusion. There was no service; there was no anything. Just Dennis gone."

Previously he told BAMT, “Going back to the time of his death, both my mother and I had the same dream, that we were falling and the next morning the telegram arrived to advise of his death,” he said.

" I often "saw" him after his death all around the place, always walking ahead of me, in his usual attire of either a duffel coat or sports coat. I then would have to overtake that person, and get a better look!

"Dennis was the oldest of three siblings and was my hero as he seemed to be able to turn his hand to anything, service petrol engines, photography including processing his own films, built a radio from scratch, spending hours taking down morse code. Other interests included scouting, theatre and eating!!!

"I will also be reminded of his loathing of organised sport, he just could not see the point. He would rather have a social drink with his family and friends with plenty of laughter."

About Dennis Bell

Dennis Bell was brought up in Harrow northwest London where he attended Harrow County School for Boys, now Harrow High School. After leaving school and a brief period in insurance, Dennis Bell joined the Royal Air Force for National Service, trained as a radio operator and then eager for more adventure joined the FIDS as a meteorologist in 1958. He was stationed for a two-year assignment at Admiralty Bay, a small UK base with half a dozen men on King George Island, one of the South Shetland Islands which lie in the Southern Ocean about 120 km off the northern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The peak of King George Island rises to 800 metres and is permanently glaciated. Admiralty Bay itself is some 20 kms long and about 5 km wide. It is surrounded by mountains and the sea ices over for nine months of the year.

Dennis was known on base for his humour and larger than life character. Colleague and friend Russell Thompson, who was on base with him and who kindly provided these photographs, has described his practical jokes and spoken of his “tremendous, tremendous character.”

Bell Point, King George Island, 62° 06' 41” S 58° 51' 56” W is named for Dennis Bell.

The Polish Team

Following the initial discovery a team of scientists made up of Piotr Kittel, Paulina Borówka and Artur Ginter at University of Lodz, Dariusz Puczko at the Polish Academy of Sciences and fellow researcher Artur Adamek returned to the area four times, discovering more remains and artefacts.

It is a dangerous and unstable place, "criss-crossed with crevasses", and with slopes of up to 45 degrees, according to the Polish team. Climate change is causing dramatic changes to many Antarctic glaciers, including Ecology Glacier, which is undergoing intense melting.

"The place where Dennis was found is not the same as the place where he went missing," the team explains. "Glaciers, under the influence of gravity, move their mass of ice, and with it, Dennis made his journey," they say.

Midwinter Party 1959